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Rondo neighborhood

The Rondo neighborhood, or simply Rondo, is located within the officially designated Summit-University district in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The boundaries of the historically black neighborhood are sometimes referred to as Old Rondo. For much of the 20th century, Rondo was the an important cultural and residential center of the black community in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan region. The core of Old Rondo was demolished between 1956 and 1968, to make way for the construction of the Interstate 94 freeway. At least 650 families were displaced from the neighborhood, as well as many businesses and community locations. The neighborhood, although scarred by highway construction, remained a notable area in Saint Paul with a strong sense of cultural identity. Popular media and historians have the explored the impacts of highway construction and gentrification on Rondo residents past and present. In the 2000s, residents and public officials have discussed ways to reconnect the former community.

Rondo
Rondo Community Outreach Library, 2016
Center of Rondo in Saint Paul
Coordinates: 44.951389, -93.12638944°57′05″N 93°07′35″W / 44.95139°N 93.12639°W / 44.95139; -93.12639
CountryUnited States
StateMinnesota
CountyRamsey
CitySaint Paul
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)

Overview

The Rondo neighborhood is located in the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota. From the late 1800s, it has been an important center of the black community in the Twin Cities. As it developed, the Rondo neighborhood became an economically diverse community, supported by social clubs, religious organizations, community centers and an active business community.[1] With the availability of Federal block funds, Rondo's central area was destroyed between 1956 and 1968, for the construction of the Interstate 94 freeway.[note 1][3][4] Families and businesses that did not accept the low financial amounts offered and willingly move were met with violence from the authorities.[5] The displacement from the neighborhood of families, businesses and organizations had a negative impact on the well-being of the black community in the Twin Cities[5][6][7][3][2][8]

Geography

 
Pedestrian bridge over Interstate 94 at Grotto Street North

In 1950, Rondo was bounded by Lexington Avenue to the west, Rice Street to the east, Marshall Avenue to the south and University Avenue to the north.[9]: xvi–xvii  [10]

The Interstate 94 freeway runs east–west, centered between what had been Rondo Avenue and St. Anthony. Originally Rondo Avenue and St. Anthony Avenue were thoroughfares that ran parallel, both beginning at Rice Street. Rondo ended at Dunlop Street and St. Anthony went the full length to Cretin Avenue at the Town and Country Club Golf Course. The construction of I-94 took the north portion of Rondo and the south portion of St. Anthony. The remainder of both Rondo and St. Anthony became freeway service roads, and Rondo Avenue was renamed Concordia Avenue.[11]

Four bridges over I-94 connect the two halves of what had been Rondo neighborhood: Lexington Avenue, at the western boundary of Rondo; Victoria Avenue; Dale Avenue; and Western Avenue, close to its eastern boundary. East of Western Avenue in 1966 Saint Paul College) built a new single-building campus at 235 Marshall Avenue.

The area south of I-94 was absorbed into the Summit-University neighborhood. The neighborhood of Frogtown starts at University Avenue and extends northward, but does not include the section of what had been Rondo between University Avenue and I-94.

History

Early black community

Rondo was the backbone of the Black community in St. Paul.[12][13] Black homeownership thrived in Minnesota from 1900 on.[14] Organizations in Rondo included the St. Paul chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in which Roy Wilkins was involved; Black newspapers included the St. Paul Echo between 1925 and 1927, the Appeal, the Northwest Bulletin, and the St. Paul Recorder (now the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder). The St. Paul Echo was published by Earl Wilkins, brother of Roy Wilkins.

The St. Paul chapter of the Urban League, the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center,[15] the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and many other community resources took form in Rondo.[16][note 2]

Black baseball remains an enduring part of the Rondo legacy. Famous players include Toni Stone, one of three women who played in the Negro leagues in the early 1950s; and Roy Campanella - Hall of Fame catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers - who lived in Rondo during the late 1940s while with an earlier version of the Saints.[18] Dave Winfield, the Hall of Fame outfielder whose career spanned the 1970s to early 1990s, grew up in Rondo neighborhood until his family was displaced by the highway construction project.[19]

Routing of Interstate 94

 
Interstate 94 at Victoria Street

The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 provided funding to American cities to build a network of freeways, necessitated by greater automobile use nationwide. A choice of routes existed; one other option was farther north, along abandoned rail tracks. The more central route — through the majority-Black neighborhood of Rondo — was chosen.[20][21] In hindsight, there is widespread agreement that the negative ramifications of this construction fell disproportionately on the residents of Rondo.[7][3][6][8][note 3][note 4][17][note 5]

The black community of Rondo was weakened, some black residents moved to other areas in the Twin Cities including Maplewood, Brooklyn Center, Robbinsdale and Crystal. Those who stayed suffered from fewer black establishments and the geographic interruption of neighborhood by the freeway.[14]

Other negative outcomes of the route chosen include the separation of the Minnesota State Capitol building from the commercial district of Downtown St. Paul, and some inconvenience for the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis.[22]

Light rail transit

 
Light rail street sign

During the years of planning and preparation for the Green Line (the second main route of the Twin Cities Light Rail Transit system, originally known as the Central Corridor project), attention was re-focused on the Rondo Neighborhood and its history. Since the Green Line was planned to go on University Avenue, just a few blocks away from I-94, the same groups were affected. Communities were concerned about the past repeating itself. A number of groups formed in order to ensure that this process was different.

Future St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter was among those who ran for and won the seats on the St. Paul City Council in 2007 for the main purpose of improving the Green Line project as it related to Rondo. A specific action taking by groups concerned about the Green Line was a lawsuit filed against local project planners and the Federal Transit Administration by the NAACP, Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, Rondo residents and businesses and other organizations including Pilgrim Baptist, the state's first Black church. They charged that the Metropolitan Council inadequately engaged in mitigating efforts on poor people and minorities, potentially repeating Rondo's results. From the actions including that lawsuit, three additional stops were added to better serve Rondo/Frogtown residents. Also, additional funds to address parking and business-loss concerns during the construction process were made available. On the national level, the Federal Transit Administration changed its so-called cost-effectiveness index, which had given preference to shorter travel times and longer distances between stops. Instead, under FTA administrator Peter Rogoff, transportation issues were being examined from a civil rights perspective. Social equity and livability factors, including economic development and congestion relief, were added to the decision-making process.[23][5][24]

Reconnecting

 
Interstate 94 at Dale Street

In 2016, MNDOT Commissioner Charlie Zelle and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman together formally apologized for the way the interstate construction was handled.[8][note 6]

A land bridge, which would cover I-94 and reconnect the northern and southern halves of Rondo, has been under discussion the 2000s.[3][25] At the federal level, the 'Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act' passed in 2021 focused on infrastructure included the 'Reconnecting Communities' program, which seeks to address harms caused by transportation infrastructure.[26] Pedestrian walkways over or under existing freeways are explicitly included as goals of that legislation.[27] The Rondo Land Bridge freeway lid concept has been discussed in the Minnesota Legislature. It is envisioned as 15 to 21 acres of buildable land extending across I-94, possibly between Chatsworth Street and Grotto Street, or alternatively from Lexington Avenue to Rice Street.[28][29][30]

Legacy

 
Rondo Neighborhood sign

Rondo Days is a weekend-long celebration of the spirit of the Rondo community, first held in 1983.[31] Two prominent members of the Black community who were Rondo residents, Marvin Roger Anderson and Floyd G. Smaller, founded an organization called Rondo Avenue Inc to turn Rondo history into a current, ongoing awareness; they launched the annual festival in 1982. Initial celebrations included a parade and senior supper, the event has continued to grow and develop each year through the efforts of the Rondo-diaspora community and now also includes the Northern Lights Drill and Drum International, a competition that draws drill and drum teams nationwide.[8][32]

In 2006, the St. Paul Public Library opened a new building at University and Dale Street to serve as both library and mixed-income housing. Called the Rondo Community Outreach Library, it holds special collections related to the Rondo neighborhood and its history.[33]

Macalester College in St. Paul initiated a collaboration with Rondo Avenue, Inc. (RAI) to team-teach a multi-faceted "History Harvest" course about Rondo, within Macalester's emphasis on community-engaged curriculum, culminating in "Remembering Rondo: A History Harvest", with the partnership of the Macalester Civic Engagement Center (CEC).[20][34] Students from the St. Paul High School for Recording Arts, in conjunction with the St. Paul Almanac and the St. Paul Neighborhood Network created the documentary Rondo: Beyond the Pavement. The work of Reconnect Rondo continues.[35][36]

In 2017, three artists connected to Rondo: Hawona Sullivan Janzen, Clarance White, and Chris Scott, created the public art project Rondo Family Reunion. The three documented the histories of the Rondo Diaspora through lawn signs featuring historic photographs and poetry from community members. The project, which was sponsored by the McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, the Center for Urban & Regional Affairs, and Springboard for the Arts, featured live poetry readings and culminated in a printed book.[37][38][39]

 
Old Rondo commemorative street sign

The Rondo Commemorative Plaza was installed in July 2016 on Old Rondo Avenue (Concordia Avenue) just west of North Fisk Street. It includes a vertical exhibit displaying the Rondo story, benches, a performance area, and a tower with a lit beacon that is visible from I-94.[25] Funds were provided by a variety of sources, including a Community Development Block Grant from the City of St. Paul and donations from several local foundations and the 3M African-American Employee Network.[7][3][8][40]

In 2017, the Minnesota History Theater presented a work called The Highwaymen to explore how freeway construction affected the neighborhood and people.[41]

The history of Black baseball and the cultural significance of Rondo are included in the St. Paul Saints City of Baseball Museum, unveiled in 2019. Saints Senior VP and General Counsel Michael Goldklang: "We have a photo frame of the Rondo highlights. It talks about how players would come in and stay in hotels and played baseball... "Black baseball is central to the history of St. Paul."[18][42]

In 2022, the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center released a board game to promote Rondo history. Called Rondo-opoly, the game design incorporates the traditions of Monopoly with the details replaced by historical facts about Rondo's history. The Hallie Q. Brown center, in operation since 1929, drew from its archives to prioritize historical locations and substantiate details about Rondo in creating the game.[43]

Notable residents

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Last summer, St. Paul's mayor issued an apology for the racially motivated routing of a highway through the Rondo neighborhood. " U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx[2]
  2. ^ Jamil Jude, director of "The Highwaymen" describes the ongoing presence of Rondo in the Black community, "As a Black artist, when you move here, the first question people ask you is, ‘Do you know about the history of Rondo?' I've been wondering why people always want to tell Black artists that story and I think it's because there is a desire to remember the history, the beauty of that community and what a disastrous — to the community — event the construction of the highway was," says Jude. "So I feel like the seeds of this story were planted in me in 2011, when I moved to town."[17]
  3. ^ "That Rondo's residents were black, that many were poor, that they were marginalized politically made the neighborhood the path of least resistance for the project."
  4. ^ "All across this country, where interstates were built, the urban poor — and, specifically, communities of color — were displaced," says Jude. "It's hard to say that highways are not what Minneapolis and St Paul needed. They did need them. But, at the same time, did we have to go where we decided to go? Who loses when progress has to happen?"[17]
  5. ^ "Today we acknowledge the sins of our past, regret the stain of racism that allowed so callous a decision as the one that led to families being dragged from their homes, creating a diaspora of the African-American Community in St. Paul." St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, 2015[3][20]
  6. ^ "American freeways tended to twist and curve to avoid wealthy neighborhoods and then straightened out into swaths of destruction through the neighborhoods of the poor, the disenfranchised and the non-white," St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, 2015 [3]

References

  1. ^ Volante, Alisha (2015). "The Rondo Neighborhood & African American History in St. Paul, MN: 1900s to Current. 2015". retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy. University of Minnesota. from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Bridging the Divide: Connecting People to Opportunity". Remarks of US Dept of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at the Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C. March 30, 2016. from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Callaghan, Peter (October 14, 2016). ""Reconciling with Rondo: could an I-94 'land bridge' help heal a 50-year-old civic scar?"". MinnPost. from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  4. ^ Rupar, Aaron (August 19, 2014). . City Pages. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Yuen, Laura (April 29, 2010). "Central Corridor: In the shadow of Rondo". MPR News. Minnesota Public Radio. from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Condon, Patrick (April 10, 2010). . boston.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Melo, Frederick (October 14, 2016). "Ground broken for plaza commemorating Rondo neighborhood, lost to I-94". St. Paul Pioneer Press. from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e Melo, Frederick (June 10, 2016). "'Son of St. Paul's Rondo wants to mark his long-gone neighborhood". St. Paul Pioneer Press. from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  9. ^ Cavett, Kate, ed. (2017). Voices of Rondo: Oral Histories of Saint Paul's Historic Black Community. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  10. ^ McClure, Jane. "Faust Theater". from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  11. ^ Boxmeyer, Don (May 12, 1990). "Remembering Rondo/Interstate 94 obliterated St. Paul's Rondo Neighborhood – the heart of the Cities' Black Community – But Memories of it Linger On". St. Paul Pioneer Press.
  12. ^ Swensson, Andrea (2017). "Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound". Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 20–36. JSTOR j.ctt1pwt6k2.
  13. ^ Brown, Curt (May 2, 2007). "'Rondo Days will feature Hoopsters'". StarTribune. p. B3.
  14. ^ a b Peterson, David (June 11, 1990). "African Americans in Minnesota - Issues of Race. There were African American millionaires in Minnesota in the nineteenth century. There was also a black literary society. For more than a century, Minnesota has had one of the nation's best-educated and most vigorous black communities". Star Tribune. p. 10e.
  15. ^ "'About page". Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  16. ^ Melo, Frederick (October 31, 2016). "Funeral for Rondo landmark planned for Saturday". St. Paul Pioneer Press. from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  17. ^ a b c Hewitt, Chris (February 1, 2017). "Rondo neighborhood play dedicated to 'memories we step on and the lives we drive over'". Twin Cities Pioneer Press. from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  18. ^ a b Borzi, Pat (May 17, 2019). "'With City of Baseball Museum, the Saints add a side of history to CHS Field'". MinnPost. from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  19. ^ Melo, Frederick (November 7, 2015). "St. Paul: Signs to mark former Rondo Avenue proposed". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  20. ^ a b c Wingo, Rebecca S.; Sullivan, Amy C. (March 2017). "'Features: Remembering Rondo: Inside View of a History Harvest". American Historical Association. from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  21. ^ Marciniak, Aaron (February 6, 2013). ""I feel like I'm driving over my bedroom" – St. Paul's Rondo history in spotlight at Minnesota History Center". St. Paul Pioneer Press. from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  22. ^ Reicher, Matt (September 10, 2013). "The Birth of a Metro Highway (interstate 94)". from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  23. ^ Walsh, James (March 27, 2018). ""Melvin Carter's historic rise from Old Rondo to St. Paul's 'made-for-this' mayor: If you were surprised to see a child of old Rondo rise up and capture the mayor's office in St. Paul, then you've never met Melvin Carter"". Star Tribune. from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  24. ^ Yuen, Laura (June 11, 2016). ""After rocky start, Green Line overcomes community objections"". MPRNews. from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  25. ^ a b Hoekstra, Joel. "Rondo Commemorative Plaza - A new pocket park in St. Paul memorializes a neighborhood destroyed by interstate construction—and celebrates the community and creativity that remains and thrives a half-century later". Architecture Minnesota. from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  26. ^ "Biden Administration Announces First-Ever Funding Program Dedicated to Reconnecting American Communities". June 30, 2022. from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  27. ^ Brasuell, James (July 4, 2022). "$1 Billion 'Reconnecting Communities' Program Accepting Applications to Repair Damage of Racist Transportation Planning-The Biden administration has talked about the need to repair the damages of a racist history of transportation planning in the United States. The time has finally come to put their money where their mouth is". Planetizen. from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  28. ^ Hackett, Ashley (May 5, 2021). "In Biden infrastructure plan, advocates see opportunity to revive St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood with I-94 land bridge - The Reconnecting Communities Act would establish grants to address the "legacy of highway construction built through communities… that divided neighborhoods and erected barriers to mobility and opportunity."". MinnPost. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  29. ^ Prather, Shannon (March 25, 2021). "'Rondo Land bridge advocates make a pitch for state help - Federal aid might also boost development that would cross over I-94'". StarTribune. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  30. ^ Galioto, Katie (April 13, 2022). "'Rondo advocates push back against GOP efforts to halt state funding for I-94 land bridge - The Legislature allocated $6.2 million for predevelopment work on the project last year'". StarTribune. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  31. ^ ""Flyer advertising the first Rondo Days celebration"". MNopedia. from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  32. ^ Tormoen, Erik (June 30, 2017). "5 Things You Need to Know about Rondo Days". Minnesota Monthly. from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2018. On the Weekend of July 15, the annual Rondo Days Celebration, Minnesota's largest African-American-sponsored event, returns to St. Paul at the Rondo Educational Center and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rec Center Park
  33. ^ Gehner, John (September 7, 2006). ""Rondo Library Celebrates Grand Opening"". Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force – SRRT/ALA. American Library Association. from the original on July 20, 2007. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  34. ^ "'Students Explore Definitions Of "Home" In Mainstage Production'". ‘The Mac Weekly'. April 25, 2019. from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  35. ^ Murray, Isabella (November 2, 2018). "'Student filmmakers' documentary tells of once-thriving Rondo neighborhood disruption". St. Paul Pioneer Press. from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  36. ^ Broaddus, Adrienne (February 11, 2019). "'St. Paul students invited to festivals with Rondo film "Rondo: Beyond the Pavement" uses pictures to tell the story of a once-thriving St. Paul neighborhood torn apart to make room for I-94.'". KARE 11. from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  37. ^ "'I'm a poet, not a politician': Hawona Sullivan Janzen on the inspiration for 'Rondo Family Reunion'". MinnPost. November 15, 2018. from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  38. ^ "Rondo Family Reunion: Pictures and Poems for Our People". Northern Spark 2019. from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  39. ^ Dolen, Jen (September 26, 2019). "Forecast consultant Hawona Sullivan Janzen skillfully engages diverse stakeholders". Forecast Public Art. from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  40. ^ Kwan, Gabriel (October 3, 2018). "'Realtors' $50K boosts project in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood'". MPRNews. from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  41. ^ Combs, Marianne; Julie, Siple (February 2, 2017). "'The Highwaymen' tells the story of St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood". Minnesota Public Radio. from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  42. ^ Hallman, Charles (May 14, 2019). "'New St. Paul baseball museum chronicles local Black history'". ‘Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder'. from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  43. ^ Murphy, Anne (August 3, 2022). "'Players can collect wealth of info on old neighborhood with Rondo-opoly'". MyVillager. from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.

Further reading

  • Fairbanks, Evelyn (1990). "The Days of Rondo". Saint Paul: MN Historical Society Press.
  • "Rondo Avenue Land Bridge Feasibility Study Final Report" (PDF). Kaskaskia Engineering Group. Reconnect Rondo. July 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  • "Restorative Rondo - Building Equity for All; Past Prosperity Study" (PDF). Yorth Group. Reconnect Rondo. July 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  • Griffin, Jimmy with Kwame McDonald "Jimmy Griffin: A Son of Rondo, a memoir" (St. Paul: Ramsey County Historical Society, 2001)
  • CultureBrokers Foundation, Inc. 2008. "Points of Entry: The African American Heritage Guide to Saint Paul." , "Education and Athletic Achievement," Saint Paul Historical, accessed January 13, 2018.
  • Consildine, Basil. "PREVIEW: High Stakes in The Highwaymen (History Theatre)". Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  • Nathanson, Iric (June 13, 2014). "Linking the Twin Cities: In 1968 the attention was on I-94". MinnPost. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  • Wedin, Carolyn; Glasrud, Bruce A. (2012). The Harlem Renaissance in the American West: The New Negro's Western Experience. New York: Routledge (Taylor and Francis Group).
  • Gihring, Tim (November 14, 2006). . Minnesota Monthly. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  • Nelson, Emma (January 19, 2018). "'St. Paul's Rondo community gets a glimpse of I-94 land bridge designs, the bridge would cover part of Interstate 94, creating space for housing, businesses and parkland'". StarTribune. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  • "Minnesota History Theater production: The Highwaymen". Minnesota History Theater. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  • "Saint Paul African American Historic and Cultural Context". Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission. November 4, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  • "Rondo Neighborhood & I-94: Overview". Minnesota History Center - Gale Family Library. from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  • "Minnesota's Black History Comes Alive In Several Online Exhibits". CBS News Minnesota. February 1, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2022.

External links

  • Hallie Q. Brown Community Center
  • Rondo Center of Diverse Expression
  • Commemorative Plaza Images via The Cultural Landscape Foundation
  • Rondo Avenue Inc organization
  • Rondo Community Library
  • Reconnect Rondo
  • Hallie Q. Brown Community Archive
  • Rondo Neighborhood, St. Paul- MNopedia entry
  • 30 Second State Capitol: Rondo Neighborhood by PBS
  • SaintPaulHistorical.com - Rondo Neighborhood
  • KFAI Audio Story from Minneculture: Celebrating the Rondo Neighborhood
  • Trivia Contest - Historic Saint Paul
  • Map of Rondo by Jim Gerlich
  • Macalester College interview with Jim Gerlich, Rondo Resident, March 5, 2016
  • St. Croix Valley Country Club

rondo, neighborhood, simply, rondo, located, within, officially, designated, summit, university, district, saint, paul, minnesota, boundaries, historically, black, neighborhood, sometimes, referred, rondo, much, 20th, century, rondo, important, cultural, resid. The Rondo neighborhood or simply Rondo is located within the officially designated Summit University district in Saint Paul Minnesota The boundaries of the historically black neighborhood are sometimes referred to as Old Rondo For much of the 20th century Rondo was the an important cultural and residential center of the black community in the Minneapolis Saint Paul metropolitan region The core of Old Rondo was demolished between 1956 and 1968 to make way for the construction of the Interstate 94 freeway At least 650 families were displaced from the neighborhood as well as many businesses and community locations The neighborhood although scarred by highway construction remained a notable area in Saint Paul with a strong sense of cultural identity Popular media and historians have the explored the impacts of highway construction and gentrification on Rondo residents past and present In the 2000s residents and public officials have discussed ways to reconnect the former community RondoHistoric NeighborhoodRondo Community Outreach Library 2016Center of Rondo in Saint PaulCoordinates 44 951389 93 12638944 57 05 N 93 07 35 W 44 95139 N 93 12639 W 44 95139 93 12639CountryUnited StatesStateMinnesotaCountyRamseyCitySaint PaulTime zoneUTC 6 CST Summer DST UTC 5 CDT Contents 1 Overview 2 Geography 3 History 3 1 Early black community 3 2 Routing of Interstate 94 3 3 Light rail transit 3 4 Reconnecting 4 Legacy 5 Notable residents 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksOverview EditThe Rondo neighborhood is located in the City of Saint Paul Minnesota From the late 1800s it has been an important center of the black community in the Twin Cities As it developed the Rondo neighborhood became an economically diverse community supported by social clubs religious organizations community centers and an active business community 1 With the availability of Federal block funds Rondo s central area was destroyed between 1956 and 1968 for the construction of the Interstate 94 freeway note 1 3 4 Families and businesses that did not accept the low financial amounts offered and willingly move were met with violence from the authorities 5 The displacement from the neighborhood of families businesses and organizations had a negative impact on the well being of the black community in the Twin Cities 5 6 7 3 2 8 Geography Edit Pedestrian bridge over Interstate 94 at Grotto Street NorthIn 1950 Rondo was bounded by Lexington Avenue to the west Rice Street to the east Marshall Avenue to the south and University Avenue to the north 9 xvi xvii 10 The Interstate 94 freeway runs east west centered between what had been Rondo Avenue and St Anthony Originally Rondo Avenue and St Anthony Avenue were thoroughfares that ran parallel both beginning at Rice Street Rondo ended at Dunlop Street and St Anthony went the full length to Cretin Avenue at the Town and Country Club Golf Course The construction of I 94 took the north portion of Rondo and the south portion of St Anthony The remainder of both Rondo and St Anthony became freeway service roads and Rondo Avenue was renamed Concordia Avenue 11 Four bridges over I 94 connect the two halves of what had been Rondo neighborhood Lexington Avenue at the western boundary of Rondo Victoria Avenue Dale Avenue and Western Avenue close to its eastern boundary East of Western Avenue in 1966 Saint Paul College built a new single building campus at 235 Marshall Avenue The area south of I 94 was absorbed into the Summit University neighborhood The neighborhood of Frogtown starts at University Avenue and extends northward but does not include the section of what had been Rondo between University Avenue and I 94 History EditEarly black community Edit Rondo was the backbone of the Black community in St Paul 12 13 Black homeownership thrived in Minnesota from 1900 on 14 Organizations in Rondo included the St Paul chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in which Roy Wilkins was involved Black newspapers included the St Paul Echo between 1925 and 1927 the Appeal the Northwest Bulletin and the St Paul Recorder now the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder The St Paul Echo was published by Earl Wilkins brother of Roy Wilkins The St Paul chapter of the Urban League the Hallie Q Brown Community Center 15 the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and many other community resources took form in Rondo 16 note 2 Black baseball remains an enduring part of the Rondo legacy Famous players include Toni Stone one of three women who played in the Negro leagues in the early 1950s and Roy Campanella Hall of Fame catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers who lived in Rondo during the late 1940s while with an earlier version of the Saints 18 Dave Winfield the Hall of Fame outfielder whose career spanned the 1970s to early 1990s grew up in Rondo neighborhood until his family was displaced by the highway construction project 19 Routing of Interstate 94 Edit Interstate 94 at Victoria StreetThe Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 provided funding to American cities to build a network of freeways necessitated by greater automobile use nationwide A choice of routes existed one other option was farther north along abandoned rail tracks The more central route through the majority Black neighborhood of Rondo was chosen 20 21 In hindsight there is widespread agreement that the negative ramifications of this construction fell disproportionately on the residents of Rondo 7 3 6 8 note 3 note 4 17 note 5 The black community of Rondo was weakened some black residents moved to other areas in the Twin Cities including Maplewood Brooklyn Center Robbinsdale and Crystal Those who stayed suffered from fewer black establishments and the geographic interruption of neighborhood by the freeway 14 Other negative outcomes of the route chosen include the separation of the Minnesota State Capitol building from the commercial district of Downtown St Paul and some inconvenience for the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis 22 Light rail transit Edit Light rail street signDuring the years of planning and preparation for the Green Line the second main route of the Twin Cities Light Rail Transit system originally known as the Central Corridor project attention was re focused on the Rondo Neighborhood and its history Since the Green Line was planned to go on University Avenue just a few blocks away from I 94 the same groups were affected Communities were concerned about the past repeating itself A number of groups formed in order to ensure that this process was different Future St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter was among those who ran for and won the seats on the St Paul City Council in 2007 for the main purpose of improving the Green Line project as it related to Rondo A specific action taking by groups concerned about the Green Line was a lawsuit filed against local project planners and the Federal Transit Administration by the NAACP Alliance for Metropolitan Stability Rondo residents and businesses and other organizations including Pilgrim Baptist the state s first Black church They charged that the Metropolitan Council inadequately engaged in mitigating efforts on poor people and minorities potentially repeating Rondo s results From the actions including that lawsuit three additional stops were added to better serve Rondo Frogtown residents Also additional funds to address parking and business loss concerns during the construction process were made available On the national level the Federal Transit Administration changed its so called cost effectiveness index which had given preference to shorter travel times and longer distances between stops Instead under FTA administrator Peter Rogoff transportation issues were being examined from a civil rights perspective Social equity and livability factors including economic development and congestion relief were added to the decision making process 23 5 24 Reconnecting Edit Interstate 94 at Dale StreetIn 2016 MNDOT Commissioner Charlie Zelle and St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman together formally apologized for the way the interstate construction was handled 8 note 6 A land bridge which would cover I 94 and reconnect the northern and southern halves of Rondo has been under discussion the 2000s 3 25 At the federal level the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021 focused on infrastructure included the Reconnecting Communities program which seeks to address harms caused by transportation infrastructure 26 Pedestrian walkways over or under existing freeways are explicitly included as goals of that legislation 27 The Rondo Land Bridge freeway lid concept has been discussed in the Minnesota Legislature It is envisioned as 15 to 21 acres of buildable land extending across I 94 possibly between Chatsworth Street and Grotto Street or alternatively from Lexington Avenue to Rice Street 28 29 30 Legacy Edit Rondo Neighborhood signRondo Days is a weekend long celebration of the spirit of the Rondo community first held in 1983 31 Two prominent members of the Black community who were Rondo residents Marvin Roger Anderson and Floyd G Smaller founded an organization called Rondo Avenue Inc to turn Rondo history into a current ongoing awareness they launched the annual festival in 1982 Initial celebrations included a parade and senior supper the event has continued to grow and develop each year through the efforts of the Rondo diaspora community and now also includes the Northern Lights Drill and Drum International a competition that draws drill and drum teams nationwide 8 32 In 2006 the St Paul Public Library opened a new building at University and Dale Street to serve as both library and mixed income housing Called the Rondo Community Outreach Library it holds special collections related to the Rondo neighborhood and its history 33 Macalester College in St Paul initiated a collaboration with Rondo Avenue Inc RAI to team teach a multi faceted History Harvest course about Rondo within Macalester s emphasis on community engaged curriculum culminating in Remembering Rondo A History Harvest with the partnership of the Macalester Civic Engagement Center CEC 20 34 Students from the St Paul High School for Recording Arts in conjunction with the St Paul Almanac and the St Paul Neighborhood Network created the documentary Rondo Beyond the Pavement The work of Reconnect Rondo continues 35 36 In 2017 three artists connected to Rondo Hawona Sullivan Janzen Clarance White and Chris Scott created the public art project Rondo Family Reunion The three documented the histories of the Rondo Diaspora through lawn signs featuring historic photographs and poetry from community members The project which was sponsored by the McKnight Foundation the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund the Center for Urban amp Regional Affairs and Springboard for the Arts featured live poetry readings and culminated in a printed book 37 38 39 Old Rondo commemorative street signThe Rondo Commemorative Plaza was installed in July 2016 on Old Rondo Avenue Concordia Avenue just west of North Fisk Street It includes a vertical exhibit displaying the Rondo story benches a performance area and a tower with a lit beacon that is visible from I 94 25 Funds were provided by a variety of sources including a Community Development Block Grant from the City of St Paul and donations from several local foundations and the 3M African American Employee Network 7 3 8 40 In 2017 the Minnesota History Theater presented a work called The Highwaymen to explore how freeway construction affected the neighborhood and people 41 The history of Black baseball and the cultural significance of Rondo are included in the St Paul Saints City of Baseball Museum unveiled in 2019 Saints Senior VP and General Counsel Michael Goldklang We have a photo frame of the Rondo highlights It talks about how players would come in and stay in hotels and played baseball Black baseball is central to the history of St Paul 18 42 In 2022 the Hallie Q Brown Community Center released a board game to promote Rondo history Called Rondo opoly the game design incorporates the traditions of Monopoly with the details replaced by historical facts about Rondo s history The Hallie Q Brown center in operation since 1929 drew from its archives to prioritize historical locations and substantiate details about Rondo in creating the game 43 Notable residents EditRoy Wilkins 1901 1981 Civil Rights activist Toni Stone 1921 1996 female professional baseball player Roy Campanella 1921 1993 professional baseball player Dave Winfield b 1951 professional baseball player Stacy Robinson 1962 2012 professional football player Melvin Carter b 1979 Saint Paul mayor Dua Saleh musician and actorSee also EditLou Bellamy The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs Roy Wilkins AuditoriumNotes Edit Last summer St Paul s mayor issued an apology for the racially motivated routing of a highway through the Rondo neighborhood U S Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx 2 Jamil Jude director of The Highwaymen describes the ongoing presence of Rondo in the Black community As a Black artist when you move here the first question people ask you is Do you know about the history of Rondo I ve been wondering why people always want to tell Black artists that story and I think it s because there is a desire to remember the history the beauty of that community and what a disastrous to the community event the construction of the highway was says Jude So I feel like the seeds of this story were planted in me in 2011 when I moved to town 17 That Rondo s residents were black that many were poor that they were marginalized politically made the neighborhood the path of least resistance for the project All across this country where interstates were built the urban poor and specifically communities of color were displaced says Jude It s hard to say that highways are not what Minneapolis and St Paul needed They did need them But at the same time did we have to go where we decided to go Who loses when progress has to happen 17 Today we acknowledge the sins of our past regret the stain of racism that allowed so callous a decision as the one that led to families being dragged from their homes creating a diaspora of the African American Community in St Paul St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman 2015 3 20 American freeways tended to twist and curve to avoid wealthy neighborhoods and then straightened out into swaths of destruction through the neighborhoods of the poor the disenfranchised and the non white St Paul Mayor Chris Coleman 2015 3 References Edit Volante Alisha 2015 The Rondo Neighborhood amp African American History in St Paul MN 1900s to Current 2015 retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy University of Minnesota Archived from the original on July 21 2020 Retrieved December 31 2019 a b Bridging the Divide Connecting People to Opportunity Remarks of US Dept of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at the Center for American Progress Washington D C March 30 2016 Archived from the original on November 8 2020 Retrieved February 3 2021 a b c d e f g Callaghan Peter October 14 2016 Reconciling with Rondo could an I 94 land bridge help heal a 50 year old civic scar MinnPost Archived from the original on February 10 2018 Retrieved January 13 2018 Rupar Aaron August 19 2014 St Paul map shows how I 94 cut through heart of city s African American neighborhood City Pages Archived from the original on December 8 2017 Retrieved July 13 2016 a b c Yuen Laura April 29 2010 Central Corridor In the shadow of Rondo MPR News Minnesota Public Radio Archived from the original on February 10 2018 Retrieved July 13 2016 a b Condon Patrick April 10 2010 Rail line stirs bad memories in black neighborhood boston com Archived from the original on February 9 2018 Retrieved January 12 2018 a b c Melo Frederick October 14 2016 Ground broken for plaza commemorating Rondo neighborhood lost to I 94 St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on December 21 2016 Retrieved January 13 2018 a b c d e Melo Frederick June 10 2016 Son of St Paul s Rondo wants to mark his long gone neighborhood St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on February 10 2018 Retrieved January 13 2018 Cavett Kate ed 2017 Voices of Rondo Oral Histories of Saint Paul s Historic Black Community Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press Archived from the original on February 11 2018 Retrieved December 16 2017 McClure Jane Faust Theater Archived from the original on February 11 2018 Retrieved January 13 2018 Boxmeyer Don May 12 1990 Remembering Rondo Interstate 94 obliterated St Paul s Rondo Neighborhood the heart of the Cities Black Community But Memories of it Linger On St Paul Pioneer Press Swensson Andrea 2017 Got to Be Something Here The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press pp 20 36 JSTOR j ctt1pwt6k2 Brown Curt May 2 2007 Rondo Days will feature Hoopsters StarTribune p B3 a b Peterson David June 11 1990 African Americans in Minnesota Issues of Race There were African American millionaires in Minnesota in the nineteenth century There was also a black literary society For more than a century Minnesota has had one of the nation s best educated and most vigorous black communities Star Tribune p 10e About page Hallie Q Brown Community Center Archived from the original on March 22 2018 Retrieved January 12 2018 Melo Frederick October 31 2016 Funeral for Rondo landmark planned for Saturday St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on November 5 2018 Retrieved January 13 2018 a b c Hewitt Chris February 1 2017 Rondo neighborhood play dedicated to memories we step on and the lives we drive over Twin Cities Pioneer Press Archived from the original on November 16 2017 Retrieved December 16 2017 a b Borzi Pat May 17 2019 With City of Baseball Museum the Saints add a side of history to CHS Field MinnPost Archived from the original on May 25 2019 Retrieved May 25 2019 Melo Frederick November 7 2015 St Paul Signs to mark former Rondo Avenue proposed St Paul Pioneer Press Retrieved May 10 2023 a b c Wingo Rebecca S Sullivan Amy C March 2017 Features Remembering Rondo Inside View of a History Harvest American Historical Association Archived from the original on April 1 2018 Retrieved January 13 2018 Marciniak Aaron February 6 2013 I feel like I m driving over my bedroom St Paul s Rondo history in spotlight at Minnesota History Center St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on September 5 2020 Retrieved January 13 2018 Reicher Matt September 10 2013 The Birth of a Metro Highway interstate 94 Archived from the original on August 11 2016 Retrieved January 13 2018 Walsh James March 27 2018 Melvin Carter s historic rise from Old Rondo to St Paul s made for this mayor If you were surprised to see a child of old Rondo rise up and capture the mayor s office in St Paul then you ve never met Melvin Carter Star Tribune Archived from the original on March 27 2018 Retrieved March 27 2018 Yuen Laura June 11 2016 After rocky start Green Line overcomes community objections MPRNews Archived from the original on March 28 2018 Retrieved March 27 2018 a b Hoekstra Joel Rondo Commemorative Plaza A new pocket park in St Paul memorializes a neighborhood destroyed by interstate construction and celebrates the community and creativity that remains and thrives a half century later Architecture Minnesota Archived from the original on March 1 2022 Retrieved July 23 2022 Biden Administration Announces First Ever Funding Program Dedicated to Reconnecting American Communities June 30 2022 Archived from the original on June 30 2022 Retrieved July 23 2022 Brasuell James July 4 2022 1 Billion Reconnecting Communities Program Accepting Applications to Repair Damage of Racist Transportation Planning The Biden administration has talked about the need to repair the damages of a racist history of transportation planning in the United States The time has finally come to put their money where their mouth is Planetizen Archived from the original on July 4 2022 Retrieved July 23 2022 Hackett Ashley May 5 2021 In Biden infrastructure plan advocates see opportunity to revive St Paul s Rondo neighborhood with I 94 land bridge The Reconnecting Communities Act would establish grants to address the legacy of highway construction built through communities that divided neighborhoods and erected barriers to mobility and opportunity MinnPost Retrieved July 23 2022 Prather Shannon March 25 2021 Rondo Land bridge advocates make a pitch for state help Federal aid might also boost development that would cross over I 94 StarTribune Retrieved July 24 2022 Galioto Katie April 13 2022 Rondo advocates push back against GOP efforts to halt state funding for I 94 land bridge The Legislature allocated 6 2 million for predevelopment work on the project last year StarTribune Retrieved July 23 2022 Flyer advertising the first Rondo Days celebration MNopedia Archived from the original on July 21 2020 Retrieved August 6 2022 Tormoen Erik June 30 2017 5 Things You Need to Know about Rondo Days Minnesota Monthly Archived from the original on July 23 2017 Retrieved January 13 2018 On the Weekend of July 15 the annual Rondo Days Celebration Minnesota s largest African American sponsored event returns to St Paul at the Rondo Educational Center and Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Rec Center Park Gehner John September 7 2006 Rondo Library Celebrates Grand Opening Hunger Homelessness amp Poverty Task Force SRRT ALA American Library Association Archived from the original on July 20 2007 Retrieved August 6 2022 Students Explore Definitions Of Home In Mainstage Production The Mac Weekly April 25 2019 Archived from the original on May 25 2019 Retrieved May 25 2019 Murray Isabella November 2 2018 Student filmmakers documentary tells of once thriving Rondo neighborhood disruption St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on May 25 2019 Retrieved May 25 2019 Broaddus Adrienne February 11 2019 St Paul students invited to festivals with Rondo film Rondo Beyond the Pavement uses pictures to tell the story of a once thriving St Paul neighborhood torn apart to make room for I 94 KARE 11 Archived from the original on February 3 2021 Retrieved May 25 2019 I m a poet not a politician Hawona Sullivan Janzen on the inspiration for Rondo Family Reunion MinnPost November 15 2018 Archived from the original on August 8 2020 Retrieved August 9 2020 Rondo Family Reunion Pictures and Poems for Our People Northern Spark 2019 Archived from the original on February 3 2021 Retrieved August 9 2020 Dolen Jen September 26 2019 Forecast consultant Hawona Sullivan Janzen skillfully engages diverse stakeholders Forecast Public Art Archived from the original on July 11 2020 Retrieved August 9 2020 Kwan Gabriel October 3 2018 Realtors 50K boosts project in St Paul s Rondo neighborhood MPRNews Archived from the original on May 25 2019 Retrieved May 25 2019 Combs Marianne Julie Siple February 2 2017 The Highwaymen tells the story of St Paul s Rondo neighborhood Minnesota Public Radio Archived from the original on February 10 2018 Retrieved December 16 2017 Hallman Charles May 14 2019 New St Paul baseball museum chronicles local Black history Minnesota Spokesman Recorder Archived from the original on May 25 2019 Retrieved May 25 2019 Murphy Anne August 3 2022 Players can collect wealth of info on old neighborhood with Rondo opoly MyVillager Archived from the original on August 3 2022 Retrieved August 6 2022 Further reading EditFairbanks Evelyn 1990 The Days of Rondo Saint Paul MN Historical Society Press Rondo Avenue Land Bridge Feasibility Study Final Report PDF Kaskaskia Engineering Group Reconnect Rondo July 2020 Retrieved July 24 2022 Restorative Rondo Building Equity for All Past Prosperity Study PDF Yorth Group Reconnect Rondo July 2020 Retrieved July 24 2022 Griffin Jimmy with Kwame McDonald Jimmy Griffin A Son of Rondo a memoir St Paul Ramsey County Historical Society 2001 CultureBrokers Foundation Inc 2008 Points of Entry The African American Heritage Guide to Saint Paul Education and Athletic Achievement Saint Paul Historical accessed January 13 2018 Consildine Basil PREVIEW High Stakes in The Highwaymen History Theatre Retrieved December 13 2017 Nathanson Iric June 13 2014 Linking the Twin Cities In 1968 the attention was on I 94 MinnPost Retrieved January 11 2018 Wedin Carolyn Glasrud Bruce A 2012 The Harlem Renaissance in the American West The New Negro s Western Experience New York Routledge Taylor and Francis Group Gihring Tim November 14 2006 Nativity Story For 30 years Penumbra Theater Company has produced plays by for and about African Americans But its own story is just beginning Minnesota Monthly Archived from the original on July 25 2021 Retrieved January 13 2018 Nelson Emma January 19 2018 St Paul s Rondo community gets a glimpse of I 94 land bridge designs the bridge would cover part of Interstate 94 creating space for housing businesses and parkland StarTribune Retrieved May 25 2019 Minnesota History Theater production The Highwaymen Minnesota History Theater Retrieved February 10 2018 Saint Paul African American Historic and Cultural Context Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission November 4 2021 Retrieved August 6 2022 Rondo Neighborhood amp I 94 Overview Minnesota History Center Gale Family Library Archived from the original on December 29 2017 Retrieved July 13 2016 Minnesota s Black History Comes Alive In Several Online Exhibits CBS News Minnesota February 1 2021 Retrieved August 6 2022 External links EditHallie Q Brown Community Center Rondo Center of Diverse Expression Commemorative Plaza Images via The Cultural Landscape Foundation Rondo Avenue Inc organization Rondo Community Library Reconnect Rondo Hallie Q Brown Community Archive Rondo Neighborhood St Paul MNopedia entry 30 Second State Capitol Rondo Neighborhood by PBS SaintPaulHistorical com Rondo Neighborhood KFAI Audio Story from Minneculture Celebrating the Rondo Neighborhood Trivia Contest Historic Saint Paul Map of Rondo by Jim Gerlich Macalester College interview with Jim Gerlich Rondo Resident March 5 2016 St Croix Valley Country Club Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rondo neighborhood amp oldid 1166037175, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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